Sahara Reporters has just published a false report that Senate President Bukola Saraki has been pushing me to defend himself and my senate colleagues. Dr. Saraki knows too well that Sola Adeyeye is a man who cannot be cajoled, intimidated or “pushed” to do what he does not believe.
Unbeknownst to the membership of the Nigerian Senate and the public at large, nobody in the Nigerian senate has given Saraki more headache than myself. At a time when Senator Ali Ndume (the former Senate Leader) and Senator Saraki were bosom buddies, my principled and uncompromising stand at senate leadership meetings irked Ndume so much that tempers sometimes boiled and flared.
As a member of the senate leadership, my voice has NEVER been muffled. I shall, one day, give account to God for how I use that voice. But I know too well that all I have is one voice and one vote. Regardless of strong personal convictions on any issue, triumph in democratic contestation is sometimes a manifestation of majoritarian tyranny rather than the dominance of virtuous views. As such, one learns to take occasional triumphs and repeated defeats with equanimity. Even so, being human, one is saddened that transducers often choose to malign one’s actions and inaction.
The Plenary Session of the Nigerian Senate is given live coverage on Wednesdays. Many Wednesdays ago, my repeated attempts to amend a Senate Resolution on the matter of the Comptroller General of Customs was greeted by a boisterous and implacable chorus of “Nay” from my colleagues. My attempt to save the senate from needlessly boxing itself into a corner met unyielding resistance and the television audience bore me witness. Thereafter, I took my seat and and kept my silence.
Many who complain about my silence on some national matters are the first to dish lampoons at me if I air any view (on such matters) that differs from theirs! In blowing the trumpet of conscience, I have learnt to sometimes keep that trumpet mute because discretion is the better part of valor. I have also learnt to sometimes stick my neck out, however unpopular it may be to do so, because the test of a man is where he stands when challenges beckon.
It really is bemusing when my recent writings are attributed to the prompting of Saraki. The truth of course is that versions of these writings have been circulated to opinion leaders of my party a long, long time ago. I do my best to preempt or minimize crisis. In doing so, my highest consideration has always been what is best for Nigeria.
So that no one would manufacture tales about my loyalty, I usually circulate my views to those who need to hear them long before such views are released to the public, and even when they are not disclosed to the public. I have learnt not to seek applause or publicity.
Many months ago, Chief Bisi Akande, Governor Aregbesola and I met with President Buhari. I chuckled and guffawed when I read various speculations in newspapers about how the meeting came to be and what we discussed. The truth is that I was the initiator and moderator of that meeting at which I spoke most respectfully but without mincing words on pressing national matters. My commitment to the Buhari Presidency is strong, indeed, almost fanatical. As such, while always being respectful, I have never had to guard my words when I speak with the President. I always give him the benefit of my honest opinion.
As for the Acting President, it is indeed laughable to read the innuendo of my being Saraki’s pawn for undermining Prof Yemi Osinbajo. Totally ludicrous! Someday, I may disclose the relationship between Prof Osinbajo and myself. Suffice to say that given the ponderous responsibilities that God has placed on him, my earnest prayers and wishes are for his resounding success. May no evil whatsoever befall him. Instead, may any evil that would touch him come upon me. It is precisely because I believe that some celebrated lawyers are misleading him that I have stuck my neck out in recent times. In my most recent interview on ChannelsTV, despite my own position on the matter of Senate Confirmation of the EFCC Chairman, I was categorical in my denunciation of Attorney General Malami for publicly contradicting the Acting President. Conscience is a lonely road, but I am used to walking it.
During the saga of the accursed Third Term Agenda of President Obasanjo, I declared that there is not enough money in the Central Bank of Nigeria to buy my conscience or enough weapons in the armory of Nigeria to frighten my soul. That is till the case with me.
Occasionally, I feel the fatigue of battles. Still, a silent inner voice tells me not to succumb to battle fatigue. As my sister recently reminded me, Rome wasn’t built in a day and not by one person. For a long time now, I have stated on my Whatsapp Status that “The process seems slow but a new Nigeria is in rebirth.” The walls of the new Nigeria will be built with bricks that have withstood the buffetings of time. Each brick will have a name on it denoting the contributions of past and present heroes. I am striving to get my name on one brick. Just one brick. Sola Adeyeye knows that unscrupulous pawns in the game of power will not have their names on these bricks. That is why I can never be a pawn for anyone.